It's All Just A Game
by ti-quan-doe
Summary: Baseball's a game. The mafia's a game. Life's a game, really. Here's to a look into the mind of one Yamamoto Takeshi.


A/N: So...recently fell in love with this manga...

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><p>"Aha, the mafia game again?"<p>

"Shut up, baseball freak!" spat a white haired teenager whose hair looked suspiciously like an octopus. He was not very happy (biggest understatement of the year) with his raven haired friend and his very dense nature. "It's not a game; get that into your head already!"

"C-calm down, Gokudera-kun. We're in class!" A bushy, brown haired boy tried to calm down his hot tempered friend. Tsuna was justly worried, Gokudera was known to be...explosive when he gets angry. The three teens were, in fact, in the middle of a classroom, but that never stopped the bomber from being violent and causing mass destruction before. The only thing that could stop him was...

"Hai, Jyuudaime!" Gokudera instantly put away his dynamites – in who knows what pockets – and saluted the brunette. Tsuna instantly sighed with relief, thats one less explosion he had to deal with during the day. As much as he cared for his friends (_not_ Guardians, mind you), even he has his limits to their constant fights.

He can't really blame Gokudera for his temper – well maybe his lack of temper control – but his exasperation at Yamamoto is fair really. After all, it has been a few months after being exposed to the mafia – months filled with guns, talking babies wearing fedoras _with_ guns, babies with explosives in their hair, and babies _being_ an explosive themselves – only an idiot would disregard this as a _game_ of all things.

Until yesterday, Tsuna thought exactly that, but now, he thinks he understands his rain guard – er – friend a little better.

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><p>First, Yamamoto is no idiot. Sure he may not be the smartest (his grades were nearly as bad as Dame-Tsuna's) but he is definitely no idiot. His priorities in life were just... different was all.<p>

Baseball will forever hold an important place in his heart. It was what he lived for; the swing of the bat, the satisfying BANG of the connection of bat and ball, and of course, the feeling of accomplishment while watching the ball soar away. Yamamoto absolutely loved it. He lived for it, and once upon a time, was would have died for it if Tsuna had not stopped him.

To him, the mafia is no different.

Replace a bat with a sword, and the ball with the opponent, and all in all, it's the same to Yamamoto. There's still the swing of the sword, the satisfaction of connection between sword and flesh (the flat side of the blade, because it is Yamamoto and a life is a life) and the feeling of accomplishment after a victory.

It's all the same to him.

Yamamoto belongs to two teams. His baseball team was close, all connected by their mutual love for the game. All with the goal to win and the time spent together practicing were to ensure that. Their love for baseball brought them together despite their differing personalities, but they always manage to put that aside for the greater good.

The Vongola are not that much different. Sure, everything was a little bit more _extreme _(according to Ryohei) and the disagreements were a little more often and more violent (courtesy of Reborn, Gokudera, Lambo, Hibari, occasionally Mukuro and Ryohei...and just about every other member of the Vongola), but they were still a team and managed to bring it together when it counts.

Yamamoto is not innocent. He knows what the mafia entails – knows of the deaths involved and knows of the role the Vongola plays in these deaths. He's seen the weapons (it's hard to ignore blatant bazookas and guns and dynamites) and felt the blood drip slowly down his skin, whether it was his own or not.

But despite that, he laughs.

At first, Tsuna thought he was crazy, for who could laugh at bloodshed? But Yamamoto doesn't think like that.

It's simple really: to him, baseball's a game, the mafia's a game, and life's a game. To win or to lose, to live or to die, that is his mindset, and that is what allows him to smile in spite of everything.

So the day before, when Tsuna asked 'why', Yamamoto's reply was simple as well:

'It's all just a game.'


End file.
